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Originally Posted by Pierre Lawrence
I think the distinction between the type of review provided by Critter and the like and Kirkus is the review's focus - Critter's being the writer, and Kirkus' the reader. The Kirkus review accordingly is more interested in telling the reader what the story is about, and only broadly characterizing the quality of the writing, while a Critter crit offers detailed suggestions for improving the writing as such. The value of the Kirkus review seems to me to be its use as a marketing tool. With its name recognition (the company has been around for 80+ years, according to its website), and its association with best-selling authors (e. g., Stephen King), a favorable Kirkus review of your book gives the reader the impression that its author is running with the big dogs.
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Sure, IF the prospective buyer actually looks at the editorial reviews section, which, let's face it, most don't. they buy into the Clickbait, go to the sales page and then after viewing the description and the LITB, promptly jump down, with a click, to the reviews--which blows right past the Editorial Review section.
I think that the reason that Kirkus remains in biz is because a lot of new-to-it authors think it's prestigious. But now that Kirkus provides paid reviews and pretty much none of them, ever, seem to be scathing...well.
Suffice to say I had a colleague, not in the book biz, who wrote an absolutely dreadful, trite book. All tell, no show and things that make you cringe. (A traumatized woman that hasn't spoken in 6 months gets put upon a horse and of course, as the horse moves, the woman--gasp!!--comes to life again! She's SAVED!). I mean, stuff that's boggling, and his Kirkus "review" was positively appalling. Didn't say that it was only fit for toilet paper, which is what it should have said. I love my friend, don't get me wrong, but the book was about the effort level of a 6th-grader. The Kirkus review didn't have ONE negative thing to say.
My entire prior comment was in response to the sentence in your post that said:
Quote:
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"...a Kirkus review could give you a good indication as to the likelihood of your book becoming a commercial success."
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...which I took to mean that you thought it actually was indicative of quality. I now realize you simply mean it's a paid-for advert that might sway prospective readers to attempt the book, as it was formerly perceived as an actual indicator of quality. [shrug]
Hitch